Federal Security Service

The Federal Security Service (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor to the Soviet Union's KGB. The agency was founded on 12 April 1995 on the orders of President Boris Yeltsin, and the FSB was designated a military service just like the armed forces and other government agencies. The FSB is responsible for counter-terrorism, surveillance, counter-intelligence, internal and border security, and investigating grave crimes such as federal law violations. In 2016, the FSB had between 200,000 and 300,000 employees, and the agency has been allegedly involved in several shady activities, including the intimidation of foreign diplomats, targeted killings (including the murders of opposition politicians, journalists, and other critics of the government), and helping the GRU with helping US Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump win the 2016 United States presidential elections by launching cyberattacks against the US Democratic Party and the government.